In the case of partially or completely sunken ships, due, for example, to an accident, there is a risk that liquid fuel for driving the ship or liquid cargo, especially crude oil, will escape and pollute the water bodies and hence the environment.
It is, therefore, important to pump out both the fuel and the liquid cargo, such as crude oil, which is hazardous to water bodies, from such ships. There frequently is no possibility of doing this via the normal connections of such a ship. Therefore, access must then be created to the corresponding tank—for the fuel or the liquid cargo—in another manner.